What is the difference between Art and Porn?

[Thaius]

Pornography exists for no reason other than sexual stimulation. It might be framed in artistic frameworks, such as a story, and it is always a subset of an artistic genre (film, literature, video game, etc.), but arguing it as an art itself is questionable. All mediums have uses that aren't actually art (i.e. a Terms of Service agreement is not art, nor is a Youtube video about how to tie a tie, etc.), and it's very easy to argue that something made for the sole purpose to stimulate someone sexually does not qualify as art.

 

[Phoenix_XIII]

a government grant!

Oi. Ninja'd.

In all seriousness, This question has gone on for awhile. You can paint a picture of a naked woman and say it's art, but some people would claim it's porn. Honestly, photography and cinematography is an art. They are a couple of the visual arts. So what qualifies as art really rests in the eye of the beholder. Maybe to some, what can be viewed as porn can be viewed as art and vice versa.

 

[Grey_Gore]

I think Terry Pratchett summed it up best of all, in the Thud! novel:

`Nude women are only Art if there's an urn in it, or a plinth.'
(Wikiquote source [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Discworld#Thud.21_.282005.29])

[sub]... in all seriousness, I think it all boils down to the viewer's sensibilities.[/sub]

 

[WouldYouKindly]

You don't usually masturbate to art. You also don't stop caring about art after you're *ahem* done.

Porn doesn't even have to do with anything sexual. Plenty of people get off on other stuff aside from naked people. So the difference is this question: Is the primary reason you're looking at it is to get off? If yes, it's porn, if not, it could be art.

 

[DarkRyter]

Art is something someone creates. Could be anything. A painting, a sandwich, a baby.

Porn is media meant to be sexually arousing.

Porn is something someone created, and thus, is art.

 

[7777777777444]

My opinion on the subject...
Art: Beuitiful, and leaves you with a special appresiation.
Porn:Beuitiful, and leaves you with a special appresiation, (In a different way.)

Seriously though, it is all about the person in question's taste... for example, Picasso's Painting "Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur" Could be called porn just because there is nudity, while others may believe it to be a tasteful depiction of the human body.

 

[TheDarkestDerp]

Art is a work which derives an intentional emotional response from the viewer, pornography is purely titillation. Art can be titillating, a work containing pornographic elements can be art, but a purely pornographic work ... *sighs* Porn ISN'T 'art' so much by definition. Pretty simple distinction often blurred by 'intellectuals' redefining things for convenience.

 

[itsausernamewhatofit]

a government grant!

Ninja'd!!!!!!!!!

 

[bdcjacko]

a government grant!

Ninja'd!!!!!!!!!

You weren't ninja'd, I post thee this two or three hours ago. The guy that quoted me a minute later, he was ninja'd. Everyone else quoting me saying ninja'd is just slow.

 

[Leadfinger]

Part of the criteria for porn is that it must "titillate." But what titillates depends on the viewer. There have been some cases where a work that a young and more easily influenced by his hormones judge had ruled as being pornographic, as an older judge he later ruled the same work to not be pornographic. Less swayed by his hormones, I guess.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Nothing. Art is subjective. A porn movie has the possibility of being art simply if its intended to be that way.

 

[Thaluikhain]

A public consensus. Phrases like "offensive to most reasonable people" crop up.

 

[johnstamos]

the way i see it most porn in almost comical and pretty much just says "because every scenario in life can have an over the top silicon boob sex scene spliced into it to make it better".
by definition, art doesn't seem to cover conventional banging scene porn, cuz seriously porn does not= sex

 

[ImperialSunlight]

There is no difference, because porn IS art. The question lies on whether or not it's good art.

How do you define good in terms of art?

OP:
The problem is that the definition of art is unclear. For instance, if the toilet that they put in the museum of art is a piece of art then can't a drawing of (insert sexually explicit thing here) be art? Also, in some pornography, although this is rare, the creator may create a passionate and creative narrarative in addition to sexual content. Is this art? Also, famous works of art such as the statue of David contain nudity. Does this make it art? Porn? Sadly art is simply a futile machination of man in their desperate struggle to catagorize everything they can so there can be no answer to these questions.

 

[Justanewguy]

I really like the replies so far. Basically I'm not asking for a distinct answer, I'm just looking for the discussion. In my opinion neither Art nor Pornography are particularly well defined from a legal standpoint, which makes it dangerous for the common citizen. Talking about it is the only way to deal with the taboos and mores that keep us from defining such words.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

Spoiler: I said...

I can't jerk off to Art... mostly...

All Seriousness Now: It all really depends on the person...

...for instance, I once got in trouble for watching the intro to the show "Elfen lied" in school (at lunch hour) because the teacher thought it was porn...

...personally, I consider the intro to be pure Art

Spoiler: Intro

EDIT: lol, wrong link... Fixed

Spoiler: Then he said

First off, it's kind of a bit of a mistake to watch Elfen Lied in school. The intro does look much more arty than it does porny. In fact, I agree very much so that the intro, at least, is art. I was never aroused by it when I first saw it, I was interested in the paintings and what everyone was so sad about. But random passersby, especially teachers, could easily perceive that as porn since it holds so many naked females.

And secondly, several parts of the show are almost soft hentai-ish, especially since Nyu is often obsessed with other people's sexual organs. The show doesn't so much sprinkle breast shots here and there as much as it does pour them all over every episode like a hurricane. Let's not forget all of the shots of nude female children that it shows.

I think Elfen Lied is an excellent example of something to bring up here. Barring the show's numerous problems, it is art. Not porn, as close as it can get at times, but art. It is art because the focus is on expressing something to the audience, in this case a story. There's almost no actual sex in the show, though it often dances around the idea. Most of the nudity is, at least in my opinion, more tasteless than necessary.

Pick any random porn, no matter, the category, and it has a single purpose - to arouse its audience. Not to make them cry or laugh or feel joyous or feel anger or pain or whatever, though I'll admit that sometimes porn probably could make people laugh, but that wasn't its intent.

Porn whose intent is to show children in a sexual light is not art, it is disgusting. In the case of hentai in manga form, the characters are often said to be older but are depicted as children and act like it. To many, it seems like it's attempting to be child porn, and I'll have to agree with them

Like I said, it's all dependent on who it is your asking... people's opinions will vary!

While were on that subject, I'd like to conclude by saying that I am at a disagreement with your last comment...

 

[BrailleOperatic]

Intent.

 

[thisbymaster]

Well if anything can be art then porn can be art. Could you get turned on by Michelangelo's David? Sure, is it porn? no.

 

[Biodeamon]

Porn=nudity or implied nudity
Art=anything else

it`s as simple as that

 

[Biodeamon]

Intent.

you might want to edit that sentence to make it a bit longer so you don`t get a low-content warning from the mods